For more than 30 years, Jamie Lynn Hoagland has been watching St. Pete grow, flourish, and most importantly, change. As a licensed clinical social work therapist – and as someone who identifies as Queer – she knows perhaps better than any that there is a huge need for LGBTQIA+ support here in the Sunshine City.
Part of her commitment to provide the support needed was to open Summit Path Mental Health, a clinic specializing in personalized services to address symptoms related to trauma, anxiety, depression, identity, daily stressors, as well as issues affecting LGBTQIA+ individuals. Summit Path has been serving St. Pete for two years, via Jamie’s office at CoHatch and through virtual counseling, adding on to the therapist’s six-year tenure of providing counseling in the city.
Reach your peak self with Summit Path
The name of the practice may be the best way to understand Jamie’s goals with her patients. The Summit, of course, is the top of the mountain – the place you want to be. The Path, logically, is how you get there. And that’s what Summit Path Mental Health offers: a path to reach your peak emotional and mental health, no matter your need.
“I really enjoy sitting down and connecting with people to try and understand where they come from,” Jamie explained. “Having my own history and experiences with trauma, I’m in a position where I get to meet people where they’re at and get to hear their stories.”
While Summit Path offers a wide variety of services and can treat clients from all walks of life, Jamie’s specialty is working with those who have suffered from trauma or are struggling with post-traumatic stress. Many – though certainly not all – of the diagnoses she works with are related to gender identity, life transitions, and women’s issues.
Manage stressors with healthy coping
One key that sets Summit Path apart from other therapists is Jamie’s employment of EMDR therapy. An EMDR-trained therapist, Jamie uses the approach to help reduce distress associated with current and historical traumas and distressing events. Notably, the approach tends to provide attainable relief much more quickly than typical talk therapy.
EMDR, short for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, has become one of the most effective modern treatments for PTSD. While a full explanation is better left to trained therapists such as Jamie, it can be thought of as being similar, in a way, to the thoughts and dreams we have during REM sleep, when our eyes are making movement back and forth. EMDR provides re-processing in a safe and non-biased environment addressing negative core beliefs of an individuals sense of self that can drive behavior.
The EMDR approach, unlike traditional talk therapy, is structured in its approach. It comes with its own set of protocols using bi-lateral stimulation. Just like talk therapy, the aim is to, basically, restructure neural pathways. EMDR can make the process more efficient.
“Part of my approach is to help people develop real time coping strategies,” Jamie said. “Even if you don’t have trauma, but you’re just stressed out from work or have family issues, having goals and plans in place when you’re in that situation can be really beneficial.”
Summit Path is a key community resource
Of course, that isn’t to say that there’s no talking at Summit Path. Getting to know her patients and their stories is Jamie’s favorite part of the process (perhaps with the exception of seeing someone reach their summit, anyway). In fact, it’s those types of conversations that got her into the business in the first place. For years, Jamie was a bartender in St. Pete, and through talking to customers and developing meaningful connections with regulars, she realized her passion for the job had nothing to do with pouring drinks, and everything to do with supporting people in the community.
So, six years ago, after acquiring her master’s in social work at the University of South Florida, Jamie joined a community mental health agency and has been serving her neighbors in St. Pete ever since. As she saw the needs of the community growing during St. Pete’s recent boom, it didn’t take long before she decided to strike out on her own and open a private practice – Summit Path.
Today, Summit Path cultivates inclusive individual therapy assisting with LGBTQIA+, identity, trauma/PTSD, anxiety, coping/stress, mood disorders, and depression. Jamie welcomes patients in her office at 15 8th Street North, inside of CoHatch St. Pete, and she also offers tele-health counseling.
Summit Path offers free 15-minute consultations, and also accepts most major insurers. Learn more about Summit Path Mental Health at summitpathmentalhealth.com.
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